


Dear Santa

by Bandgeek18



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bruce is a new parent, Christmas fic, Fluff, Minor Angst, he's trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 21:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13152081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandgeek18/pseuds/Bandgeek18
Summary: Dick gives Bruce his letter for Santa, but Bruce is still very new to having a kid at Christmas and forgets.





	Dear Santa

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote most of this today while waiting to go to my dad's today. Just a fun little Christmas fic for everyone.

When Dick came downstairs he was pleasantly surprised to see Bruce reading the paper. Normally his guardian was gone by the time he was eating breakfast. Dick ran over to the table and sat down. "Good morning, Bruce!" 

"Morning, Dick," Bruce said, not looking at him. 

Dick looked at the folded paper in his lap, biting his lip nervously. "Bruce?"

"Yes?"

"If-if I give you my letter to Santa, will you make sure he gets it?" Bruce froze, as did Alfred. The former lowered his paper slowly and looked at the 8-year-old, who was looking at him cautiously. 

"You want me to give Santa your letter?" 

"Yes please. My-my parents always gave it to him but they're....not here...." 

Bruce's shock melted a little bit when he saw the sadness on Dick's face. "Of course I will." Dick handed it to him. 

"You promise you'll make sure Santa gets it?"

"Of course."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Here's your breakfast Master Dick," Alfred said, placing a plate in front of him. "Eat up, then you must get ready for school."

"Ok, Alfred," Dick said. 

Bruce finished his breakfast and, thankfully, remembered to take Dick's letter with him. He put it in his briefcase and, by the time he was at his office, promptly forgot about it. In fact, he didn't even think about it until December 23. He was walking past his ward's room when he heard the crying. Without hesitating, Bruce entered the room quickly. Dick was curled up under his covers. "Dick what's wrong?" he asked, gently sitting on the edge of the bed. There was a mumbled sob from under the blankets. "Dick what happened?" He rubbed the boy's back and it prompted him to crawl out from under. Bruce was shocked to see Dick was still in his uniform. He must've just gotten home from school. Dick hesitated, clearly unsure, but Bruce held his arms out. Taking the hint, Dick scrambled closer and latched onto him. Bruce hugged him and rubbed his back while he cried. "It's ok Dick. It's ok." 

When Dick finally stopped crying, Bruce wiped his tears with the corner of a blanket. "What's going on chum?"

Dick sniffed. "Am-am I getting coal?"

"Coal?" Bruce furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"You know. Kids on the nice list get toys from Santa and kids on the naughty list get coal." 

That Bruce did know, but it'd been so long since he'd thought about anything involving Santa. "Why would you think you're on the naughty list?"

"Cause...I-I saw him.... I saw Zucco damage the wires and I didn't say anything-"

"Dick." Bruce tilted the boy's face up to him. "Dick listen to me, we've talked about this. You're not responsible for what happened to your parents. It's not your fault, do you understand? The only person to blame is Tony Zucco." Dick nodded. "Is that why you're so upset? You thought that because you were responsible for what happened Santa put you on the naughty list?"

"And this kid in my class....Nick, he said Santa doesn't like kids who don't have parents." Bruce frowned, concerned a classmate would've said such a thing to a second grader. "Is that true Bruce? Does Santa not like kids who don't have parents?"

"Of course not. Santa.... Santa loves all the children of the world. Why else would he spend all of Christmas Eve delivering presents to them?"

Dick sniffed. "I guess that's true... So I won't get coal?"

"No, of course not."

"And Santa will bring me the toy I asked for in my letter?"

A jolt went through Bruce when he remembered the letter. The one he was supposed to give to Santa. "You only asked Santa for one toy?" 

"Yeah.... We didn't have a lot of money so I'd get hand made stuff but I could always ask Santa for one thing as long as it fit in the trailer. He always brought it."

"Always huh?"

"Every year. And he will this year, right?"

"Yes, absolutely." Dick smiled at him. "Um, I have work to do Dick, I'll see you later ok?"

"Ok."

"Make sure you change out of your uniform and do your homework."

"I will." 

Bruce left Dick's room and practically ran to his study. He opened his briefcase and dug through it. He found the letter, half crumpled on the bottom. Guilt rushed through him as he smoothed it out and glanced back to make sure Alfred or Dick hadn't followed him in. Satisfied he was alone, Bruce opened the letter and read.

"Dear Santa,

This year for Chrismas I want an Amazing Superman action figure. The one with the real cape and makes noises. I live in Gotham now at Wayne Manor, in case you do not know. 

Your Friend,  
Dick"

The penmanship and spelling was very good for an 8-year-old who'd learned English very recently. Bruce sighed a small sigh of relief. "It's just an action figure. I can get that." It didn't excuse the fact that he didn't have any other presents for Dick either. "I'll get it tomorrow. It can wait until then. It's just one toy. How hard could it be?"

\-- -- 

Since the next day was Christmas Eve, Dick didn't have school and Bruce didn't have to work. Clearly, the boy thought this would be his chance to spend time with Bruce, if his hopeful look and the book in his hands was anything to go by. That, combined with Alfred's clearly judgmental look made Bruce feel bad. "Sorry Dick, I have some last minute errands to run." 

"Oh....ok..." Dick's arms dropped, as did his smile. Bruce swallowed. 

"I'll be back tonight before you go to bed. I promise."

"Ok...." It obvious by Dick's tone he didn't believe Bruce.

"Come along Master Dick," Alfred said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I think it would be very festive if we made sugar cookies and decorated them. That way Santa has some special cookies for tonight."

"Can we drink hot cocoa too?"

"Of course."

"Ok."

"Run along into the kitchen and I shall be there in just a moment." Dick ran off and Bruce breathed a sigh of relief that he looked a little more upbeat. The relief was short lived when faced with the judgmental face of Alfred though. "Shall I guess that the letter Master Dick wrote to Santa did not make it?"

"......yes." Bruce knew lying would be useless. 

"And I also assume you have not gotten him any other gifts?"

"No. Please stop looking at me like that. I know it's bad." Especially since Bruce had remembered to get a present for Alfred. 

"I suppose I should relieve you of some burden and inform you I have already purchased Master Dick a stocking as well as candy to put in it."

"Ok. Thank you."

"I'm sure I don't need you to remind this Christmas is very important one for Master Dick." Bruce merely nodded. "Good. Now, I shall keep Master Dick in the holiday spirit while you amend this situation." 

"Understood." Alfred left him and Bruce put his hand in his pocket to feel the letter. "It's just one toy. How hard could this be?" Bruce kept telling himself all the way to the first toy store. There was a huge crowd inside the store, which Bruce had been expecting. He wasn't, however, expecting it to be nearly impossible to move. Bruce had to practically use his Batman agility to get through. Unfortunately, not having been in a toy store in many years, he didn't even know where to look. "Excuse me," he said trying to get the help of one of the very frazzled workers. The man slipped past him and Bruce had to take 10 minutes to track down another one. "Hey!" he almost yelled, grabbing the man's smock. 

"What can I help you with?" The man asked, clearly wishing Bruce would let go. 

"Where are the Amazing Superman action figures?"

"We don't have any."

"What do you mean you don't have any?!"

"They're sold out. Have been for 5 days."

"You're absolutely sure there's none?" 

"Yes, sir. Now if you have anymore questions I would be happy to answer them....if you let go."

Bruce sighed and released his smock before slowly making his way through the crowd through the door. 'There's tons of stores in Gotham. One of them is bound to have it.' That, unfortunately, didn't play out at the next toy store. Or the one after that, or the one after that. By the time Bruce fought his way into the fifth store, he was tired and desperately hoping this one had the toy. Sadly, he was met with empty shelves with bright yellow 'Sold Out' signs. "There has to be more toy stores in Gotham." There were two. 

At the first one it was so crowded, Bruce had to shove and weave for 30 minutes, just to get the section with all the action figures. There was a huge sign for the Amazing Superman one, but the shelves themselves were empty. Bruce cursed under his breath and even looked behind the figures of other Justice League members, but didn't find anything. Desperately, Bruce tracked down a worker. "I need an Amazing Superman action figure."

"We don't have any," the woman explained patiently, yet with a tone that obviously said Bruce wasn't the first person she'd had to explain this to. 

"Please, you don't understand, I need one!"

"You aren't the first parent to tell me that." Bruce pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and the woman frowned. "You aren't the first one to try and bribe me either. We don't have any and we probably won't have any until after the New Year."

"The New Year?!" 

"Yes."

Bruce sighed and left the store, not actually reaching the exit and getting out of the parking lot for another 45 minutes. If there was any reason to never leave Wayne Manor, this was it. One look at the letter though renewed Bruce's energy. He had to find that toy for Dick. 

The next store was the last toy store in Gotham. There were other stores that sold them sure, but he definitely didn't have time to search them all. The last store was just as busy as the others had been and had just as many Amazing Superman action figures. He flagged down a worker again. "I need an-"

"An Amazing Superman, right?" The woman asked, not at all surprised. "You and everyone else in Gotham."

"Do have any at all?"

"Nope." Bruce held out the wad of cash again. "Bribing me won't help. We don't have any. We won't have another shipment until after the first of the new year." 

"But-"

"Look, the advice I'm supposed to give you is just give your kid a bunch of other toys to make up for it and buy it for him next month." 

Bruce frowned. "That's oddly specific advice you're 'supposed' to give. Wouldn't that boost your sales not only now, but next month when toy sales are at their lowest?"

The woman shrugged. "I dunno. I just work here and follow orders." Bruce had his theories about why they would have so few shipments of a toy that was so popular during the holiday season, but he pushed those aside. Questionable business strategies aside, he did have to get Dick other presents. Which he did, but while worrying over the fact that he still didn't have the one toy his ward wanted from Santa. 

Perfectly acceptable gifts in the trunk, but sun setting, Bruce felt like a failure. He took a seat on a bench downtown and tried to call other stores. None of them had the toy and no bribe could procure one. Bruce sighed and put his head in his hands. The one toy, the only thing Dick wanted, and he couldn't get it. Had he bought it two weeks ago when Dick had given him the letter, he probably could've gotten one. Despondency didn't prevent Bruce from hearing someone walk down the street and sit by him on the bench. He lifted his head and scowled. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet Santa?" Clark asked with a smile, flicking a the pop-pom on his red Santa hat. 

"What are you doing here?"

"I was listening in to make sure everyone was having a good holiday season and someone I recognized said my name an awful lot today."

Bruce scowled even more. "It wasn't for you." Without another word he took Dick's letter out of his coat pocket and handed it wordlessly to Clark. Clark read it in the street light for a minute, then nodded. 

"So that's why you kept talking about me. Dick wanted my action figure."

"I needed to get him one. It's a hard enough Christmas for him since it's the first without his parents and he's already afraid he'll get coal. I promised him Santa would bring that toy. When he wakes up tomorrow morning and it's not under the tree he'll be devastated."

"Did you get him other gifts?"

"Of course! Books, computer games, circus themed toys, and....other action figures of the League. None of them are the one toy he wanted. The one thing and he isn't getting it because I'm a bad guardian."

"You're doing fine. Getting him one toy isn't going to make him hate you."

"No, because he's a good kid and he'll be happy with anything. His parents always got him the one toy though. He told me he always asked Santa for one specific toy and always got it. I have to at least meet the standard of his parents. I have to, Clark."

Clark was quiet for a moment, then smiled. "Then I guess I should give you this." Before Bruce could ask what he meant, he grabbed something on the ground next to him, which Bruce missed due to the early darkness, and handed him the action figure. 

"Way to bury the lead Farm Boy." 

"Hey I was curious to see if you had an emotion during the holidays. Hal owes me $20 now."

Bruce rolled his eyes and examined the toy. It was 2 feet tall and made of surprisingly durable plastic. The cape on the back was made of a felty cloth and the 'S' shield on the front was a button. Morbidly curious, Bruce pushed it.

"Let's save the world!" the action figure declared in a very good likeness to Clark's own voice. 

"So this is the toy I ran around trying to find. How did you get one?"

"I've always had it. Lois gave it to me as a joke during an interview. I figured I'd hold on to it until I found a kid who needed one." Bruce was quiet for a moment. 

"Thank you, Clark." 

Clark smiled. "No thank you necessary. It's just what I do."

"I can pay for it."

"I don't want anything. Just make sure it gets to Dick and he has a good Christmas."

"I will."

\-- -- 

It was a little late and past dinner time when Bruce got back to the manor. Alfred helped him sneak the presents in and hide them in his own room. "Where's Dick?" he asked. 

"Master Dick is in his room, getting ready for bed," Alfred informed him. 

"I'll go check on him and say good night before I wrap these."

"A very good idea sir."

Bruce walked quietly down the hall and knocked on the door. "Dick?" He opened it and found his ward a little teary-eyed, readings a book. "Dick what's wrong?"

"I can't...." Dick mumbled.

"You can't tell me what's wrong?" Bruce asked in confusion as he sat on the bed next him. 

"I can't read it..." 

Bruce looked at the book. It was 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. "You can't?"

"No. M-mom and Dad always read it to me but I-I can't read it alone...."

"Don't cry. Why didn't you ask for help?"

"You-you weren't here...."

Bruce winced. Right. "Well, I'm here now and I can read it to you."

"Really?"

"Of course." It was a book he hadn't read in years, but doing so with the small weight of Dick pressed into his side filled Bruce with a warm glow. He had presents to wrap, but that could wait until Dick was happy and asleep. 

\-- --

The following morning Dick was up before the sun. He came running into Bruce's room, shouting happily, "Santa came! Bruce, Santa came!"

"He did?" Bruce asked as he sat up. He looked at he grinning child. "I told you he would."

"Can we open presents right now?!"

"Of course." 

Dick didn't waste anytime getting through any present with his name on it. True to Bruce's predictions, he was very happy with all of his presents. Even the computer games that were actually designed to help him improve his English. The last present was laid carefully in the back and Dick had to crawl under the tree to pull it out. He tore the wrapping paper off and gasped so loudly Bruce and Alfred, who'd been admiring their own gifts, jumped. "The Amazing Superman!" He took every scrap of wrapping paper and tape off of it. "It's amazing!"

"You like it?" Bruce asked, a hint of a smile on his face. 

"It's so awesome!" Dick started running around the den, making his toy fly and pushing the button on the chest every ten seconds. 

"Looks like you were on Santa's nice list." 

"And if you wish to stay there, I would suggest you clean up this mess before breakfast," Alfred advised him. 

"Yes, Alfred." 

Bruce stood up to go, but was stopped by Dick, who gave him a hug with one hand still holding his new toy. "What was that for?" he asked.

"For giving Santa my letter."

"You're welcome."

Dick ran out of the room, toy still held high and proud. Bruce smiled and considered thanking Clark again. His own pride be damned. As long as Dick had a good Christmas, that was all that mattered.


End file.
